collapse

* Recent Posts

"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]


Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by Altair
[March 21, 2024, 02:52:34 pm]

Author Topic: This is not the only awesome  (Read 1469 times)

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
This is not the only awesome
« on: September 28, 2012, 12:04:54 am »
A post elsewhere got me thinking about those moments when what we think is our spiritual world drops out from under our feet. And I thought people here - and maybe especially in this folder - might find it useful or that it might make for some interesting conversation.

http://gleewood.org/threshold/2012/09/27/one-spirit-in-the-dark/ is the post (it's 2400 words, or I'd quote here)

I'm curious, though: what other advice might you give? What advice have you found helpful if you've had those moments? What questions do you have about what to do next? *handwavy desire for discussion here*
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

RandallS

  • Site Admin
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: NE Ohio
  • Posts: 10311
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 296
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Hellenic Pagan
Re: This is not the only awesome
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2012, 08:13:11 am »
Quote from: Jenett;75281
http://gleewood.org/threshold/2012/09/27/one-spirit-in-the-dark/ is the post (it's 2400 words, or I'd quote here)

That's a great post. I don't think I can add much to your excellent advice, except perhaps a corollary to "Don't panic":

You don't have to fall in, you can climb down at your own pace. Just because the abyss opens at your feet doesn't mean you have to leap in. You can if you want to, of course, but in most cases you can choose to go another direction or to climb down into the walls of the abyss at you own pace.
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Rhyshadow

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Feb 2012
  • Posts: 717
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: This is not the only awesome
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2012, 08:31:38 am »
Quote from: RandallS;75285
That's a great post. I don't think I can add much to your excellent advice, except perhaps a corollary to "Don't panic":

You don't have to fall in, you can climb down at your own pace. Just because the abyss opens at your feet doesn't mean you have to leap in. You can if you want to, of course, but in most cases you can choose to go another direction or to climb down into the walls of the abyss at you own pace.

 
I have to echo Randall here, Jenett - good stuff for the people just seeking out

And instead of climbing down the walls, a rope and rappelling harness work wonders too :)

IceAngie

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: Bahía Blanca
  • Posts: 487
  • Country: ar
  • Total likes: 41
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she, her, hers
Re: This is not the only awesome
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2012, 11:20:25 am »
Quote from: Jenett;75281
http://gleewood.org/threshold/2012/09/27/one-spirit-in-the-dark/ is the post (it's 2400 words, or I'd quote here)

 
Excellent advice, as always.

I especially liked the part relating to prayer. A lot of the beginners in paganism don't know how to pray, or how to communicate with deity. Even me, who have been pagan since I was 13 (am now 31), don't know how to communicate with a brand new recently arrived god or goddess. I guess I'm not the only pagan that has this problem.

There's also a problem, for those who have never had a major spiritual experience, when they get godbothered they don't know what to say. The thinking is sort of "if I say no, this god/dess will get mad at me and punish me somehow?". Well, I said no to Loki, and I'm still alive. The chaos that Loki gave me was while I was with Him, not when I left. Of course not all the gods are the same, but if you only say yes out of fear, you will never know.

I think it's also important that you made it clear that these sorts of things can happen more than once in the lifetime of a person, so if this is not the right time, don't be afraid that it will never happen again.

OT: thanks for the f.lux link!
Angeles/IceAngie/Selegna.

Annie Roonie

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 915
  • Total likes: 1
    • View Profile
Re: This is not the only awesome
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2012, 07:58:19 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;75281

I'm curious, though: what other advice might you give? What advice have you found helpful if you've had those moments? What questions do you have about what to do next? *handwavy desire for discussion here*



I've had the bottom drop out but not necessarily spiritually, and I think you advice is pretty darned good for many types of experiences like that.

One thing that helped me when going through a traumatic change was akin to the part you wrote about media consumption but concerning people. I allowed myself to say "no" or to not engage in conversations with people who only seemed to express how horrible the world was. I tuned out some people. It's touchy ground because I don't know if surrounding oneself with yes-men types is the way to go, but keeping and eye on the messages I was consuming from others helped me to keep clear of those whose messages were habitually and consistently very negative and without balance. I didn't tune out argumentative people, just those who never did anything but argue.
 
But I see it can be tricky as you noted that writing in advance of data is a bad idea, and who is to know what kind of people are going to be around any given individual?

dragonfaerie

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: Baltimore, MD
  • *
  • Posts: 441
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 5
  • Priestess of Caffeina
    • View Profile
    • Soylent Purple
  • Religion: Wicca & Druidry
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her/her
Re: This is not the only awesome
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2012, 09:26:51 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;75281
I'm curious, though: what other advice might you give? What advice have you found helpful if you've had those moments? What questions do you have about what to do next? *handwavy desire for discussion here*

 
I think the only other thing I'd add is "Don't be tempted to tell everyone you know about what's going on." Much like we often tell folks who have newly found Paganism... everyone doesn't want to hear it, and your newfound enthusiasm may be a little obnoxious. The added corollary here is that some people might think you're crazy if you suddenly start talking about deep visions or talking to Gods or whatnot.

So maybe seek out a trusted friend/advisor or two, but otherwise keep thy stuff to thyself until you really sort out what all this means and what you're doing to do about it (if anything).

Karen

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
23 Replies
6843 Views
Last post August 26, 2013, 03:50:34 pm
by veggiewolf
2 Replies
1243 Views
Last post July 25, 2013, 02:52:38 pm
by Kate
11 Replies
2421 Views
Last post November 17, 2013, 12:34:09 pm
by DavidMcCann
97 Replies
12045 Views
Last post July 09, 2014, 08:49:42 am
by sailor
18 Replies
3742 Views
Last post October 03, 2018, 07:57:50 pm
by Hariti

Beginner Area

Warning: You are currently in a Beginner Friendly area of the message board.

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 234
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal